“Su Hanting?” The secretary thought for a bit and replied, “He’s one of the candidates but he’s too young and lacks experience.”
“What about his other aspects?” Shi Chengxuan raised a brow and asked.
“He’s good in other aspects. His previous supervisor has also recommended him to me several times, and he’s a decisive and flexible person. He’ll achieve great results in two to three years.”
"Go talk to Tong Zhe. If he can bring Su Hanting along with him and nurture him within two years, then when Shi Chongkong steps down, the position will become his.”
Secretary Wu nodded in response, but was still a little surprised. Why did the boss suddenly want Tong Zhe to support Su Hanting? Although this person’s skills are good, he wasn’t worth the boss’s special attention, right?
Secretary Wu would never know Shi Chengxuan’s hidden motives.
He quickly relayed the message. That night, Tong Zhe brought Su Hanting out for a drink, and Su Hanting had no chance to invite Tang Susu out again.
Tang Susu didn't see him until she got off work, and was actually relieved. And even in the following days, Su Hanting didn’t approach her again.
It wasn’t until New Year's Day that she heard from people saying that Su Hanting had been deployed to the company’s European branch.
Many people in the company said sour words behind his back, saying that he had been lucky enough to be noticed and chosen by Tong Zhe. Once Tong Zhe came back in two years, he would’ve been more or less recognized by the company and would be much stronger than the others who were fighting desperately in the head office.
Hearing this, Tang Susu finally understood why Su Hanting had looked dazed several times when she had seen him.
But this was for the best. They didn’t mean much to each other right now, and the best ending was to not even have a beginning in the first place.
When she talked about Su Hanting with Bai Mian after returning, Bai Mian’s attitude was a little odd. She wasn’t interested in Su Hanting, but instead asked if she had offended her boss.
After getting confirmation that Tang Susu hadn’t, Bai Mian fell silent for a long time before telling her that she should stay away from Shi Chengxuan.
Tang Susu was confused and didn't understand what her best friend was implying.
After thinking about it, Tang Susu concluded that Shi Chengxuan had probably suffered a loss after Bai Mian had taken over the Bai Group so he was feeling a little jealous.
Anyway, even if Bai Mian didn't mention it, Tang Susu rarely interacted with Shi Chengxuan outside of work, so she didn't take her best friend’s warning to heart.
New Year's Day was more than a month before the New Year, and Chinese New Year was a month after the New Year. As the days passed by, more lanterns and decorations were being put up on the streets, and there was more and more of a New Year's atmosphere.
On the way home from work that day, Tang Susu happened to pass by the shopping mall and bought tiramisu for Gou Dan under its urging. After she bought the snacks and was about to exit the building, she saw a group of 17- to 18-year-old girls blocking the mall’s entrance. They wore looks of excitement and held a sign while shouting something.
Walking closer, she could hear what name these people were shouting -- Jian Dan!
A beautifully dressed, tall, and young woman with long hair walked out of the mall with a pair of big sunglasses. The shouts of the young girls suddenly got louder; none of them could help themselves with the excitement.
The woman was surrounded by many people, including the mall security, her assistant, etc.
Seeing this, Tang Susu understood the situation in front of her. It seemed that Jian Dan had adapted well after waking up and had quickly risen to fame.
Tang Susu couldn't help but glance over there a few more times. She was quite pretty, but she didn't understand exactly what that vixen liked about her in particular.
As Jian Dan smiled, interacted with her fans, and gave them her signature one by one, Tang Susu passed by the crowd and walked out of the mall.
Just when she found her car, she noticed an extra vixen had appeared in it.
The fiery-red ball of fur crouched on the passenger seat. Even without seeing his expression, Tang Susu could feel a depressing aura coming from him.
After recalling seeing Jian Dan earlier, she closed the door and wore her seatbelt properly, and casually asked, “You broke up?”
“...How did you know?” Laying on the chair, Qi Yang did not move and let Gou Dan step on his head however it liked. Ever since the deal had been made, he could see Gou Dan. After knowing that the opponent he had been dealing with was actually a cat, his little heart had received a strong blow.
Tang Susu grinned. “The two of you aren’t meant to be. Isn’t it normal to break up?”
If the vixen was willing to be famous, it would’ve been alright. But he insisted on being a small model, while Jian Dan got better resources and would stand upright and continue walking farther from him. Their statuses weren’t equal, and over time, obvious differences would appear.
Even after she had woken up and was touched after knowing that her ex-boyfriend had stayed by her side, she wouldn’t have changed her choice.
This was human nature. If she really didn't care about status, the two wouldn’t have broken up in the first place.
“In what area am I bad? Her manager is almost forty. His figure is out of shape. Besides the fact that he is a male, he is nowhere better than me.” Qi Yang couldn't help complaining.
“You can’t make a living out of your looks.”
"She wasn’t like this before. She had a good heart when she was a child. When I got lost in the mountains and met her, she gave me the apple in her hand."
Tang Susu became speechless for a while after listening. She hadn’t expected to have really encountered a scene of a vixen repaying gratitude. An apple for a life; it was simply an unprofitable business.
If she had known this earlier, she would’ve loitered in the mountains with a basket of apples. Who knows, she might've been able to bump into this stupid vixen.
"You like her just because of this?"
"Isn't that enough?" Qi Yang stared at her with his pair of vixen eyes.
Tang Susu’s mouth twitched. "If you want to like a kind-hearted girl, go to the orphanage. Many of the volunteers there are beautiful female college students. I’m certain they will meet your requirements."
After listening to her, Qi Yang tilted his head and started thinking seriously.
Driving him to the bus stop, Qi Yang changed back into a human form and got out of the car. Before leaving, she couldn't help but take another look and found that the other party was studying the bus route to the orphanage.
At that moment, Tang Susu suddenly felt that she had done something wrong.
"Say, why did Qi Yang save Jian Dan for an apple?" Tang Susu turned around and asked Gou Dan who was pulling out the box of tiramisu and scratching it.
"Vixens determine value differently from humans."
"So in his eyes, an apple is enough for him to waste fifty years of his life?" She still couldn't understand. No matter how, she felt that this kind of unreasonable effort was stupid, and not something like what a shrewd vixen would do.
"Or maybe he wanted to pay this price to cut off cause and effect." Gou Dan wasn’t very interested in vixens. But since its owner seemed to prefer its red fur, as the furball in charge of acting cute, Gou Dan had been having a small temper tantrum lately.
Tang Susu nodded thoughtfully. This sounded very reasonable, and the answer was more realistic.
Regardless, after the deal was successful, Qi Yang's feelings for Jian Dan had long been taken away by the Bowl of Seven Emotions. Even if Jian Dan hadn’t initiated the break-up, Qi Yang would’ve eventually drifted away from her.